Gumbo: a Savor the South cookbook

Savor the South Cookbooks

by Dale Curry

Recalling childhood visits to her grandmother's house in New Orleans, where she would feast on shrimp and okra gumbo, Dale Curry offers fifty recipes--for gumbos, jambalayas, and those little something extras known as lagniappe--that will put Louisiana taste and hospitality on your table. "Gumbo" calls to mind the diverse culinary traditions of Louisiana that, like gumbo itself, are simmered from elements of the many cultures circulating in the state. Drawing historically from French, African, Caribbean, Native American, Spanish, Italian, and other culinary sources, the Creole and Cajun cooking featured in Gumbo embraces the best of local shellfish, sausages, poultry, and game.

The heart of Louisiana home cooking--and now showcased by of chefs across the South and beyond--gumbo, jambalaya, and lagniappe traditionally drew from the state's waterways and estuaries rich with crustaceans, swamps exploding with waterfowl and alligators, and forests full of game. From the land came rice and peppers, two leading ingredients in gumbo and jambalaya. Recipes include classic and traditional dishes, as well as specialties offered by star chefs Bart Bell, Leah Chase, Emeril Lagasse, Donald Link, and Tory McPhail. With Curry's easy-to-follow instructions at hand, home cooks will be ready to let the good times roll at every meal.

Genres: Cooking

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2015

About the author

Dale Curry was born in Memphis but has called New Orleans home for more than forty years. Having worked as a food editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune for twenty years, she has written for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the former Atlanta Constitution, and New Orleans States-Item. She has also served as the New Orleans correspondent to the Baton Rouge Advocate and the Baton Rouge State-Times. A member and former president of the Association of Food Journalists, Curry is the food columnist for New Orleans Magazine."

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long-time food writer in the Big Easy sets her hand to a short book on gumbo. She offers sixteen recipes which could lead one to ask why so few and another to ask why so many? Sixteen is too few because there are so many ways to make gumbo which remains authentic. Sixteen is too many for the cook who has never tried one and is bewildered. Fortunately the first gumbo recipe is a straightforward Emeril Legasse recipe likely to get the novice off to a palatable and successful start. She explains how to keep the okra from being slimy. She explains when to use tomatoes and when not. She demystifies the art and science of thickening with file powder. In addition to these title recipes, she offers six for jambalaya. There is also a mess of other recipes which might not fit into one of the many small volumes of the truly excellent Savor the South cookbook series, e.g. piquant alligator sauce over rice, Eggs Sardou much like the ones served at Antoine's in the French Quarter, and shrimp-and-crab stuffed mirlitons (chayote). This is a very good book.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not just gumbo but jambalaya and other favorites too. Will bring a taste of New Orleans to my kitchen.